The Alzheimer's Disease Bookstore

The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's-Proofing the Home

by Mark Warner

Alzheimer's is a particularly difficult disease to deal with because of its many phases, and the hardships it imposes on the patient and the patient's caregivers. Doctors can prescribe medication. Therapists can help in the rehabilitation process. However, neither doctors nor therapists have the knowledge to aid in the one area in which most chronically ill patients wish to stay - their home.

Written by a practicing architect and gerontologist, The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's-Proofing the Home shows you how to create a home environment that will help you cope with the many difficulties associated with Alzheimer's. This unique book is divided into two sections to provide the most thorough coverage available. Section One deals with interior and exterior spaces individually, providing key information on how to ensure that the Alzheimer's patient will be safe and secure. Section Two gives a detailed list of potential problems related to Alzheimer's and practical information on how to cope with those problems in the home setting.

Topics covered include: planning for a caregiving future, minimizing accidents and injuries, grab bar basics, access denial issues, doors to lock and not to lock, the Alzheimer's Association safe return program, activities of daily living, and communication difficulties. The book includes a glossary of terms and an invaluable listing of products that you will need to use in Alzheimer's-proofing your home.

This must-read book is a home guide, reference and catalog. It will give you the knowledge and advice to make a better and more pleasant environment for your loved one and provide a quality of health care to keep your loved one in a place surrounded by family and familiarity.

Review From Booklist, July 19, 1998

Loving care at home is the most desirable situation for many Alzheimer's sufferers and their families, but it is difficult to realize. Warner's thoughtful book aims to help by showing how to make a home more navigable, comfortable, and just plain livable for the Alzheimer's patient. Nicely presented and well illustrated, the book deals with rearranging and remodeling the patient's living space clearly and concisely and also addresses "thinking- related issues" such as the misinterpretations, hallucinations, and delusions attendant on the disease. In short, Warner strives for comprehensive coverage of the specifics of caring for afflicted loved ones in the home. A generous directory of relevant products and manufacturers and a helpful glossary further distinguish this superlative resource for home caregivers.

Mike Tribby

Copyright© 1998, American Library Association. All rights reserved

Home is where most people prefer to remain. The decision to care for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease at home is both a rewarding and difficult challenge.

Few caregivers realize the behavioral and cognitive issues that accompanies Alzheimer's disease. While writing this book it became profoundly apparent how important it was for caregivers to learn all that they could about the disease, in order to anticipate, plan for, and deal with issues they are likely to encounter. This self-taught education involves three key components: medical care, health care and creating a safe and supportive home environment, responsive to the unique needs of someone with Alzheimer's disease.

The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's-Proofing Your Home leads the reader through each behavioral, cognitive and activity of daily living issue that might be encountered. This book is full of ideas and products for hiding and rummaging, wandering, incontinence and much more. It offers simple answers to difficult problems, where modifications, environmental strategies or products can contribute to the caregiving process - and it tells you where to get them. The book also includes a glossary to help anyone, from the medical professional to the home caregiver, understand terms that they may encounter.

Years were dedicated to researching Alzheimer's disease, the problems caregivers face and developing solutions those caring for a family member at home need to know. Suggestions come from my own experience, caregivers, health care professionals and Alzheimer's experts, all of whom generously provided crucial information on the most important issues.

Most of all, The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's-Proofing Your Home provides insight and a helping hand to those embarking on a loving and unselfish journey. I regard caregivers as "modern-day heroes" and this book is for you. It is intended to provide you with a wealth of information, never offered before, to make your job easier and enhance the quality of life for you and your loved one.

My best wishes to all of you.

Mark Warner

(Mark Warner is a registered architect and a gerontologist. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, American Society on Aging, the Gerontological Society, and the Association of Healthcare and Services for the Aging.)

You can now order the book listed below directly on the Internet from Lake Solitude Media's Alzheimer's Bookstore in affiliation with Amazon.com Books. Click on the link below.